“Pray On My Child”
Background Scriptures James 5; 13-18
Key Verse Acts 16; 16-34
Supporting Scriptures 1st Timothy 5; 5
Luke 18; 9-14
Luke 22; 41-44
Date January 28, 2009
Author Jonathan Morrison
“Pray On My Child”
Definitions
Pray- to speak to God, a deity, or a saint, e.g. in order to give thanks, express regret, or ask for help
Cease- to put an end or stop to something
Scriptures
Acts 16; 16-34
16Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.
17This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved."
18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.
19When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.
20They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar
21by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."
22The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.
23After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.
24Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
26Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.
27The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.
28But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"
29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
30He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household."
32Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.
33At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.
34The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.
James 5; 13-18
13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
1st Timothy 5; 5
5The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help.
We find in the text Paul and Silas were traveling through
Macedonia and they were on there way to a place of prayer. As
they traveled they were met by a slave girl who was demon
possessed to tell fortunes. The story tells us that this girl followed
them for a few days shouting out “these men are servants of the
Most High God who are telling the way to be saved. Yes she was
demon possessed and yes she was speaking the truth but you can
not under any circumstances mix good with evil. Anyway Paul
was at the point that he was fed up with her that he cast out the
demon from her. Knowing that this demon was a money maker
when her owners found out what had happened they became
furious and so that drug Paul and Silas to the market house to go
before the authorities. They then told the magistrate that these
men were teaching things that are not pleasing to us. After this
the whole city stood against them. But Pray on my Child. The
story tells us that the magistrates tore off their clothes and
commanded them to be beaten with rods. After the beating they
were thrown into prison and the authorities told the jailer to make
sure the a kept securely more less telling him to lock them up
tight. The story tells us that the jailer locked them in the inner
cell off to themselves.
The story writer tells us that around the midnight hour Paul
and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. How many
know that the hymns in the time of need will be that which get you
over and through it. When we pray and believe in what we are
praying for and who we are praying to God has no choice but to
show himself because if he promised he will do it. But there was
an earthquake that came through and had shaken the prison and
all the doors of the prison were opened and the prisoner’s chains
were loosed. They tell me that when the guard woke up he saw
the doors open and wanted to kill himself because he thought
everyone had escaped. So then Paul said and the Bible states with
a loud voice “Do yourself no Harm for we are all here” Pray on
my Child.
When situations arise in our life we have to depend on Jesus
and the Holy Spirit to bring us through. The only way is through
Prayer. When we pray to the father we are simply following his
will. Not only do we pray for ourselves but we have to pray for
others for we find in the book of Luke 18; 9- 14 that 2 men went to
the temple to pray. One man was a Pharisee and truly he didn’t go
to pray unto God but to announce all that he has done as a
Christian. But then there was a tax collector that went with him
he was ashamed and the Bible even tells us that the tax collector
wouldn’t even look toward heaven. But he realized that he was a
sinner and he needed forgiveness. We need to let the tax
collector’s prayer be our prayer because we need God’s mercy
everyday.
So in order to receive something from God just like the lonely
widow woman in 1st Timothy 5 and 5 who put her hope in God
and continuously prayed night and day asking God to help here
through this situation we must remember that our faith is the Key
and Prayer unlocks the door. You have to know that Prayer can
strengthen your soul in Psalms 121 we find that prayer can be a
source of stability and preservation.
When I went through the scriptures I found that there are
several different types of prayer. I want to just briefly describe
them to you.
Jesus is our perfect example of Pushing Prayer you know
Praying until something happens. We find in Luke 22; 41- 44 for
at the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed earnestly and his sweat
was like drops of blood.
But we have Persistence In Luke 18 Jesus told the disciples a
parable of the persistent widow who got justice because of her
importunity. Jesus taught them not to faint or give up in prayer
because even God listens to his children who cry to Him day and
night.
Next we have Birthing Prayer. This is prayer that will not let
go until it delivers or achieves its goal. The prophet Isaiah asks a
question in Isaiah 66:8 ‘can a country be born in a day? Yet when
due process is followed after labor Zion delivers her children.
Birthing prayer goes through a period of pain, groaning, anguish
but as soon as the child is born, there is joy and all the pain is
forgotten. It is prayer sown in tears but reaping time brings joy
we find this in (Psalm 126:5-6).
Then we come to the Prayer that our grand momma used to
pray that is Fervent Prayer. As defined as intense, enthusiastic
prayer. For James 5; 16 tell us it is the effective fervent prayer of
the righteous that avails much. We find in 1st Kings 18; 43 that
Elijah prayed earnestly that it will not rain and for 3½ years there
was no rain. He prayed seven times before the rains came
We next have continuous prayer. The Bible tells us to pray
continually or without ceasing. 1st Thess. 5; 17 Prayer should
therefore be made a habit, a lifestyle. It is having a prayerful
heart and spirit keep on keeping on in prayer and the answer will
surely come. Prayer should be just as important as breath is to
the human body.
Give me a moment and I’ll be out of your way. Next we find
Desperate Prayer. Desperate prayer is praying with a passion. It
is like sending an SOS to God and telling Him to act and act fast.
This prayer is usually motivated by a great need, problem that
needs God’s intervention. Hannah prayed desperately when she
wanted a child.
Violent prayer takes by force what belongs to you. You are
ready to fight every enemy or obstacle using every spiritual
weapon. Some of the weapons available include the name of
Jesus, the sword of the spirit the word of God, the helmet of
salvation, the shield of faith, the belt of truth and shoes of the
gospel of peace which we find in (Ephesians 6:10-18).
And finally another characteristic of Pushing Prayer is
waiting patiently in faith until the answer comes. Those who wait
on the Lord will always have their strength and will have no cause
to be weak in faith (Isaiah 43:31). Those that are patient will
always get God’s, attention.
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned
to me and heard my cry. Psalm 40:1.
In my conclusion I want to say that when you are sick in your
body and the pain won’t go away POMC,
When they lock your child up for selling drugs to the undercover
POMC
When your family begins to turn on you POMC
When those bills pile up POMC
When they tell you in 2 weeks the job is closing down POMC
When that friend tell you they are coming to take you to the store
and never show up to take you POMC
